Improvement in mail-bag catchers



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. A. BOALS. Mail-Bag Catcher.

Patented Jan.` 22,1878..

ym@ 5L. $06135 y Mull l k L WM u ERS. PHO-LTHUGRAPHER WASHINGTON D C 2 ,Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. A. BOALS. Mail-Bag Catcher.

lParenteel 1an. 22,1878.

MPETERS, FMO'l'O-LITHDGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED ,STAT-ESPATENT OFFICE- -JAMEs A.' BoALs, on DINsMoRE, AssIeNon To D. M. BArLEYa BROTHERS,

OF OARDVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

. IMPROVEM ENT il Nf MAI 1 -Ae CATCH ERS- Specication forming part of 4Letters Patent No. 199,499, dated Januaryl22, 1878; application kled (y November 19,1877. 4

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAnEsA. BOALs, of Dinsmore, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Exchanging MaiLBags with Mailr'lrains while in Motion; and ...I do `hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description vit consists, first, in the construction of a swinging crane, which carries themail bag or pouch' to be received on board of the passing train; second, in the construction of the catcher in the mailcar, which'receives the bag from the crane; and, third, in the construction, and their combination with the crane and catcher, of rings of peculiar construction for suspending the bags to be received and delivered. 4

. The object of myinvention is to provide a means for exchanging inail matterduring the passage of the train, in a safe and expeditious way, and this I accomplish .by making the vprojecting on both sides thereof `at right crane and catcher both serve Vthe double purpose of delivering and receiving (in other words, exchanging) a mail-bag, substantially as I shallnow proceedto point out more fully.

On the two sheetsof drawings hereto annexed, Figure l represents a perspective view of` a mailcar passing the crane, inthe act vof 4exchanging mailbags. Fig. 2,is a side view ofthe crane. Fig. 3 is a ont elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of the catcher detached, and Fig. 5 is a similar view of one of the exchangerings whichfornis a part of my invention.

I shall first describe my improvedcrane and its construction. This consists'of .a post, A, secured firmly in the ground in 'a perpendicular position, a short distance to one side of the track. O11 top of post A is bolted a projecting perforated arm bracket, ca ,l'through ,which upasses a shaft, B, the lower en d of ter, so` as to form a part of it. Into the ont side of shaft` B is inserted a pin, d, which slides in a spiral groove, e, in the sleeve C. lThe front part of said sleeve, ybelow the groove e, has a depression or perforation, j', into which its the lower hooked end of alatch, D. The latter is pivoted upon shaft B at g, its upper arm D projecting out from the shaft, and terminating in a bent arm, D", Fig. 3.

The upper `crane-arm E is secured rigidly to, and projects at right angles from, the top of shaft B.

The lower arm E' is hinged in abracket, h, which projects from shaft B, parallel to arm E, so as tohave a free upanddown swingingmotion.

Upon the end of arm E is `the pivoted key c', which is inserted through lthe ring `in the bottom of the mail-bag, so as to Ykeep this l in a perpendicular position, as shown in the drawlng.

To. the under side of the upper arm E, and

angles, is secured a rod, F, the ends of which arey bent upward to form hooks 7c k. On each side of `this rod are the pivoted top 1keysj-j, from which the' exchanging-rings vare suspended, as hereinafter described. L

The catcher consists of `a vertical rod, G, tenoned at both ends,'so as to swing in bearings which are bolted onto the side of the tmail-car. Projecting om about themiddle of this rod, at right angles, are two arms, H

and I, and projecting from arm I, parallelgto H, is another shorter arm, K. Arm H is the lever or handle foroperating the catcher. K .is the arm which receives the mailfbag with its ring from the crane, and upon the projecting part I o f arm I the bag and ring to be delivered by the train to the crane are suspended.

At each operation of exchanging bags two .exchanging-rings, L L', are used. Each of these rings consists of a piece of heavy wire, or a thin iron rod, bent into the shape represented more clearly in Fig. 5, so as to have two leyes, Z Z, and a slot or opening, m, on one side. Firmly secured about midway on the ring, one on each side, are two downwardprojecting hooks, n n, of such a gap or width that they will lit over arm I'. n o and o are rings inserted into the loops or eyes Z Z, by means of which rings L are suspended upon the swiveled keys j j of the upper crane-arm E.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the operation of my invention will be readily understood.

The mail-bag (denoted by H in the drawing) to be deposited on board of the train is suspended between arms E and E' of the crane by means of ring L, the. upper ring p of the bag being slid onto L through the slot or opening m. The exchange-bag Y is, a short time before the train will reach the crane where the exchange is to take place, suspendi ed upon another ring, L', which is deposited uponarm I by means Vof the projecting hooks In, the weight of the bag serving to keep it in a perpendicular position. Just before the crane is reached arm I with its projections Il K is swung out of the open door (denoted by M) by turning the handle or lever H inside the mail-car, and as the car passes the crane armK will pass through ring L and carry it, with its bag, off the crane, while simultaneously the ring L', which carries the exchange-bag' Y, will be deposited, by arm I', upon the hooked projecting receiving-rod F of the crane.

The' moment bag X leaves the crane, arm E' will, of its own weight, fall down, and, striking the latch D', will disengage its lower hooked end from the perforation fin sleeve C.l The pin ZZ, being no longer retained at the top of the spiral groove e by latch D, permits shaft B to turn round and lower itself through the sleeve (by its own gravity, with that of its attachments) until it occupies the reversed position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. rIhis rotation of the shaft B swings its vupper arm E out of the way, with the bag Y suspended from it, so that this is not liable to be blown off thehook by the current of air caused by the passing train. After the mail-car has passed the crane, the arms of the catcher with the bag suspended on them are turned into thel car by swinging lever H back in the oppositel direction, when' the bag with its ring is detached from the' catcher, which is charged with another bag for delivery at theneXt station. The usual way of delivering lmail matter from trainswhile in motion is to throw 'the It frequently happens th at the mail-pouches are blown in under the wheels of the train, and their contentsseriously damaged or completely destroyed, and another drawback to this method is the danger which it involves. The mailclerk, whose duty it is to throw the bag overboard, has to stand at the very edge of the open door and throw the bag with all his Aforce up against the wind in thedirection in which the train is moving. Hence he is apt to overbalance himself and to fall out. Such accidents have frequently happened to the personnel of the railway mail-service intrusted with this duty. But by my invention all danger to the mail matter, as well as to life and limb, is entirely overcome. There. is no missing either the catch or the throw by miscalculating the distance, and the mail matter is delivered and received at the same instant in perfect condition, and` without the possibility' of failure or accident.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. The combined receiving and delivering crane herein described, consisting of the stationary post A, rotating shaft B, arm E, having receiving-hook F and swiveled keys jj, swinging arm E', having swiveled key Z' or its equivalent, latch I), and spirally-grooved sleeve C, all constructed and combined to operate substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

2. As an improvement in mail-bag cranes, the rod F, having hooked ends 7c k, for receiving the exchange-bag from a passing mailtrain, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

3. rlhe combined delivering and receiving catcher herein described, consisting of the vertical pivoted rod G, having horizontal arms H I at right angles to each other, the latter provided with a projecting arm, K, parallel to H, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

4. The rings L for suspending the mailbagswhile these are being exchanged, consisting of a rod or wire bent' into an annular shape, and having an opening, m, loops or eyes Z Z, and hooks 'n n, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

5. The device herein described for delivering and receiving mail-bags, consisting of the crane, constructed as herein described, in combination with the combined delivering and receiving catcher G H I K and the exchangingrings L, all arranged and operating substantially as herein described, for the purposes shown and specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES A. BOALS.

Witnesses:

GEO. YENAN, '.l. H. PURVIANCE, M. D. 

